Chandra's cosmos
Subtitle: dark matter, black holes, and other wonders revealed by NASA's premier X-ray observatory
By: Wallace H. Tucker
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
ISBN-13: 9781588345875
Subjects: X-ray astronomy; Chandra X-ray Observatory (U.S.)
Description: On July 23, 1999, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the most powerful X-ray telescope ever built, was launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia. Since then, Chandra has given us a view of the universe that is largely hidden from telescopes sensitive only to visible light. In Chandra's Cosmos, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra science spokesperson Wallace H. Tucker uses a series of short, connected stories to describe the telescope's exploration of the hot, high-energy face of the universe. The book is organized in three parts: "The Big," covering the cosmic web, dark energy, dark matter, and massive clusters of galaxies; "The Bad," exploring neutron stars, stellar black holes, and supermassive black holes; and "The Beautiful," discussing stars, exoplanets, and life.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : cool stories from the hot universe; title: Part I. The big. Galaxy clusters; title: The evidence for dark matter; title: Cold dark matter; title: Dark matter going bananas; title: The wonderful; title: and fearful; title: dark side; title: What is dark energy?; title: The cosmic web; title: Part II. The bad. Taking pleasure in the dimness of stars; title: Cygnus X-1, microquasars, and the galactic jet set; title: Downtown Milky Way; title: The secret in the middle; title: Ducks unlimited; title: The origin and growth of supermassive black holes; title: Green black holes; title: Black hole feedback; title: Part III. The beautiful. Going not gentle into that good night; title: Core collapse; title: The crab and other pulsar wind nebulas; title: A thin cosmic rain : particles from outer space; title: Elemental change; title: Cosmic renewal.